Published: 15 December, 2011
by JOHN COURTNEY O'CONNOR

Grassroots Shakespeare had a successful run with the The Dream in Hyde Park this summer, only to regroup to present Merry Wives this winter.

An Anglo-American “pop-up” company, they combine elements of 19th-century farce and commedia dell’arte with popular theatre.

The show opens with Sarah Jayne-Harris as Mistress Quickly, greeting us in chirpy cockney, strumming a ukulele.

Sir John Falstaff (Noah Young) wishes to seduce the wives of Ford and Page – two Windsor “dudes” whose female partners rule their purses.  

However, Nym and the notorious Pistol, discarded followers of “plump Jack”, warn the husbands, who contrive to nail the randy knight in a series of farcical assignations.

There is much doubling and many cross-gender parts as well as cross-dressing, echoing the panto season – all happening at incredible pace, sometimes at the expense of the bard’s poetry.

• There is still time to catch the Merry Wives of Windsor. The next and final performance takes place on December 17 at 10pm. For tickets call 08444 771 000.